A/N Written for TheCloserFicFest 2014. Prompt: Andy and Jackson are bffs until Andy falls head over heels with Sharon.

"Detective Flynn, in my office, now!" the loud cry of Captain Blake rumpled across all robbery and homicide division.

Everyone turned their ends towards the person concerned and Detective Andrew Flynn got up from his chair with a snort. With a big confident grin and a toothpick between his lips, he made his way towards the office ignoring the glares of his fellow officers.

"You wanted to see me, Captain?" Andy entered the room and sat on the free chair across Blake's desk.

"Wipe that smug grin from your face, Flynn! You know exactly why I called you here!"

"Actually I have no idea, sir" he shrugged.

"Did you or didn't you tell a witness to shove his complaint up his ass?" Blake shouted.

"I might have used those words, but the dirtbag deserve it. He kept rambling in my ear about God knows what while leaving the important details concerning the case for last. We might have solved the case days ago if it weren't for him!" Andy voice got louder with every word said.

The captain sighed "Did you really arrive at the scene drunk?"

Andy tried to avoid answering, but the bulky man in front of him insisted with his intense glare. "I may have had a couple of beers" he confessed "But I was not drunk" he clarified.

"Are you out of your mind? It could have cost you your badge! I've tried to cut you some slack, Flynn. I know things haven't been easy since your wife kicked you out and filed for divorce"

"I prefer not to talk about it" It hurt hearing those words.

"Yes, I know you've refused counselling" he rubbed his hand over his forehead. "I have no right to dictate how you live your life outside work hours, but if your drinking interferes with your job…"

"I don't have a drinking problem!" he yelled.

"I've seen a lot of good detective lose everything because they overlooked the signs, I don't want you to be one of them"

"Is that all, Sir?" Andy asked impassively. He didn't need another lecture.

"I managed to calm the witness down and he's going to withdraw his complaint. I've heard that there are going to be some changes in the IA division, so be more careful, Flynn, next time you might not be so lucky"

Andy nodded not having the strength to say another word.

"Go home now!" he dismissed him.

Andy exited the office and walked towards his desk. He grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair and shoved the papers on his desk inside a drawer. He could feel the curious eyes on him, they hurt like a thousand of daggers. He knew he was spiraling out of control. Hell, everyone knew that. Even his partner was losing his patience. He had refused to come and pick him from a lousy bar the last time Andy had called him. The last of many drunken calls. Toby Garrett had already left for the day, he had been fed up that he had to cover for him again that morning. Andy just knew that one of those days Garrett was going to ask to be partnered with someone else.

He sighed and walked out of the building towards his old car parked in parking lot. Once he was safe inside, he leaned his head back and closed his eyes. The Captain had been right. Since Joanne had kicked him out, his life had gone downhill. He had checked in in a motel, thinking, or maybe hoping, that the separation was going to be temporary. But days had passed and his wife refused to talk to him. Then one day he had been served with divorce papers. He had driven angrily to his house, because it was still his house, and banged on the door until Joanne opened it for him. She told him that it was over and that he could contact her through her lawyer. She was also asking full custody of the kids and Andy couldn't remember the last time he had spent time with his kids. His lawyer didn't look confident and Andy knew it was a losing battle.

The sound of his mobile phone dragged him out of his thoughts. It was a text from his drinking buddy Jackson Raydor asking him where he was and that he was waiting for him at the usual place.

Andy sighed and started the car. Another drunken night won't be the worst thing in the world.

When he arrived at the pub, Jackson was talking animatedly to a couple of young women. The blonde one was sitting on his lap running seductively her hand through his hair, while the brunette one was sitting on the chair across him. Her legs were crossed and her short skirt has risen up so high leaving nothing to imagination.

"Andy, my man" Jack exclaimed shouting happily. "Come here on join us!" he patted the empty seat.

With a deep sigh, Andy walked towards them and smiled at the two women. It seemed that Jackson had already had a few drinks.

"Andy, these are Natasha and Jessica. They are here on holiday" he smirked.

"Nice to meet you, ladies" Andy wondered how old they were. They looked too young to be hanging with two old men like them.

He had met Jackson Raydor through a couple of mutual friends. He was a charming easy going persona, maybe too loud and invasive at times, but he had a contagious laugh and was a fantastic story teller. Andy also liked him because he didn't criticize his drinking, on the contrary, he encourage it. Even if they had been friends for nearly a year now, he knew very little of his family. Once Jackson let it slipped that he was married to a cop, but she worked in a different district than Andy so he probably had never met her. And, just like him, he had a son and a daughter, but Jack never talked about them.

"Billy!" Jack called the bartender. "Bring the usual for my friend" He slapped Andy's back. "You need to catch up, man!" he chuckled.

They spent the next hour drinking and laughing with the girls. Andy needed to put the day behind him and nothing felt better that drinking until you passed out and flirting with a beautiful woman who obviously had sex in mind.

"Why don't we take the party somewhere else?" the girl named Natasha suggested provocatively, running a hand down Jackson's chest and topping at the edge of his trousers.

"Great idea!" Jackson jumped down his seat and throwing some bills on the table to cover their tab.

"Excuses ladies" Andy grabbed Jack's arm and dragged him to a corner far from the girls. "Jackson, what are you doing?" he hissed at his friend.

"What does it look I'm doing?" he stammered on his words, obviously drunk. "I'm having fun" He smiled at Natasha "And it looks like I'm going to get lucky"

"Aren't you forgetting that you're married?"

Jack groaned. "What are you? My Mom? Sharon hasn't touched me in ages. A man's got needs and since I can have them from my wife, might as well look somewhere else. You're so lucky, being divorced and all, no cares in the world."

Andy didn't feel so lucky. He would have done anything to have his family back. For one thing Jackson was right. He had needs and it had been so long since he had enjoyed the touch of a woman. Jessica wasn't really his type, but she was very attractive. One night of casual sex might be what he needed to forget his troubles.

"Okay, let's go" he finally agreed.

"Now you're talking!"

The next morning Andy woke up with a pounding headache. He groaned as he shifted under the sheets. He slowly opened his eyes, but closed them immediately when the morning light hit him.

"Shit" he groaned. He rolled over and tried to get up again.

He didn't recognize the room he had just woken up in. The bed was hard and very uncomfortable and the sheets were rough on his skin. "What the hell happened last night?" he muttered. He grabbed the sign on the bedside table to see the name of the motel.

He picked up his clothes and ungracefully got dressed before going into the bathroom to wash his face. Suddenly flashes of the night before came to him. He and Jackson getting drunk, Natasha and Jessica, checking in at the motel and then blank. He searched for his wallet and saw that all his money and credit cards were gone. His phone was gone too. He cursed under his breath. At least his badge was still there.

Someone started banging at his door, making his headache worse. He snapped the door open.

"What?" he shouted. Standing on the other side was Jackson Raydor. He looked worse than him.

"She stole from me!" He pushed his way inside. "That bitch stole from me!"

Andy rubbed his forehead. "Yes, me too. I'm pretty sure they drugged us. We need to call our banks and block our credit cards then I'll call someone to take a statement."

Jackson opened his eyes wide and panicked. "We can't press charges! My wife will find out about it!"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure she will find out about it when she'll realize that there's not money in your account"

"I'll block the cards, but no police" He shook his head.

"I'm the police!" Andy shouted.

"What the day is today?"

He shook his head confused. "Sunday. Why?"

"Oh shit! There's a barbecue at my house. Sharon will wonder where I've disappeared" he ran his hands through his hair, pacing up and down. "You'll come with me" he suddenly stopped. "You can be my alibi. I'll say that we were watching a game at you place and I just fell asleep."

"Wow, thanks for the invite, mate" Andy replied sarcastically.

"Andy, you don't understand! My wife is a lie detector. If she finds out about last night…"

"Well maybe you shouldn't have left with another woman last night. This is all your fault!" Andy pointed a finger at him.

"Yeah, yeah…" he waved him off. "We need to leave. She took my watch too."

"If you don't want your wife to suspect anything, you might want to clean up and don't look like you have an hangover" Andy pointed out the obvious.

After leaving the motel, they went to find their cars. Luckily they were still there. They quickly stopped at Andy's place where he changed his clothes and lend a clean shirt to Jackson. They respectively called their banks to block their cards. No one had made withdraws yet and they had to go the next day to sign some documents and fill in the request for new credit cards.

Nearly two hours later they were at Raydor's house. They could hear music and voices coming from the back yard and made their way through the wooden gate. The back yard wasn't too big, it could held just a few people. Someone was already at the grill taking care of some hamburgers while the kids were running around chasing each other with water guns.

A auburn haired woman came out of the house carrying a bowl with salad. As she put it on the table, she laughed at a joke someone said and then pivoted again on her heels to go back in the house. Andy couldn't help noticing how beautiful she was. She had a certain aura that attracted everyone's attention. Her eyes suddenly darkened when she noticed them standing at the entrance.

He could see she was conflicted whether to ignore them or confront them. At the end she sighed and walked towards them.

"Hello honey" Jackson tried to softener her mood with his charming smile, bur Andy could tell that over the years it had probably lost its powers over her.

"Jackson" she said drily, hands on her hips. "I don't even want to know where you've been or what kind of excuse you've come up with"

"Sharon , honey, let me…"

"No Jack, I'm done listening. Next time I would really appreciate it if you called. At least I'd know not to wait up worrying that you've ended up in the hospital or dead somewhere."

"There's no need to be so melodramatic" he rolled his eyes.

"I…" she shook her head defeated knowing that she was only wasting her breath. Her eyes finally landing on Andy and she raised her eyebrows in question.

"Do know Andy?" Jack found a way to stir the conversation. "I've told you about him. He's a friend of mine"

Andy smiled and shook her hand nodding.

"I've spent the night at his after I fell asleep during the match" Jackson tried to explain hoping his wife would buy the lie. "He is a cop like you" he added.

"Really?" now she got even more interested. "Which division?"

"Robbery Homicide in Central Bureau. I'm a detective" he answered. "Jack told me you're in South?"

"Yes, but I've asked for a transfer for Central. We'll see how it goes." She shrugged. She turned towards her husband. "You can go and help Alan with the grill" she ordered. "Andy, make yourself comfortable and help yourself with anything you'd like." She gave him a small smile before leaving. He understood that since he came with Jackson, she didn't know what to think of him.

"That was close, man" Jackson puffed. "I'd better behave myself in the next few days." He turned around to look at Andy "Not a word." He begged one last time, before joining the man called Alan and greeting his other friends that has showed up.

And just like that Andy was left alone feeling a bit out of place. He wasn't the type of backyard barbecues or socializing with the neighbours. Joanne would insist they'd go to all these events and parties and most of the times he would bail using work as an excuse. Maybe that was another reason for his divorce. He awkwardly looked around just to see that everyone was occupied with something. Maybe he should just say goodbye to Jack and leave, but there was free good food and at home alone he was only going to feel sorry for himself.

Jack was laughing and joking with someone. In his hand there was already a bottle of beer. So much for behaving, Andy thought shaking his head. After the night and morning they had the last thing he wanted was alcohol. Since he decided to stay, he thought he should go inside and see if there was something he could do. He hesitantly stepped inside and made his way to what he thought was the kitchen. He quietly approached the room, but stopped on his tracks when he heard soft sobs. From the small view behind the kitchen's door frame, he saw Sharon leaning heavy on her hands against the sink, head down hiding her face from the world. Flynn didn't know what to do. He had just met the woman and the last thing she probably wanted was to be seen so vulnerable in front of a stranger. He turned around leaving her to her privacy, but she caught his quick movement and she gasped turning around startled.

"Hmm… yes" she whispered lifting her glasses and quickly drying her eyes with the tip of her fingers.

"Hum… yeah…" Andy awkwardly took a step forwards hand in his pockets. "Sorry… I didn't mean to…" what spy? "…disturb… I just wanted to see if I could help with anything…" he stumbled in his words.

Sharon nervously looked around trying to avoid eye contact. "Oh no, thanks…. I've got it"

Andy nodded and made his way to the exit.

"Was it true?" she suddenly asked him.

Andy turned around and looked at her frowning.

"Jack's story? Was any of it true?" she asked again.

Andy could see the pain and defeat in her eyes. She had incredible forest green eyes, but the light in them were dimmed by the trouble and agony in her life. All cause by Jack.

"It's not my place to say" He couldn't lie to her, but he also couldn't break his promise to his friend.

She nodded, biting her bottom lip. "I see…" That was all she needed to know. It was no true. It was another one of his lies.

"Look…" Andy tried to approach her, offering her some sort of comfort.

"No…" she waved him off taking a step back. "I don't need to know what really happened. I probably don't want to know. Just…" she swallowed her sob, trying not to start crying again. "If or when you go out again, look after him, please… he is still my children's father"

And Andy was surprised at her request. Despite all the pain she was going through, all the uncertainties knowing that her husband had probably been unfaithful to her while she had been at home taking care of their children, despite everything she still cared for him. That was what made her different from Joanne. If he had someone liked her waiting at home, he probably would have fought more for his marriage. And Andy felt a wave of admiration for her and something else he couldn't quite place yet.

"Sure" he simply told her.

"Mom! Mom" a young little boy came running in.

Her sad face soon turned and she had a big proud smile when she kneeled down to catch her son. "Yes sweetie?"

Andy left mother and son alone and when back outside just to see Jack ignoring his little girl who was asking for attention. He had always thought that Jackson and he were similar, but while he had lost his family and regretted all his past mistakes, Jackson had a wife and children still fighting for him but he didn't seem to care. Andy shook his head and opened the back gate leaving the party. He had nothing to fight for, so why bother. He climbed in his car and drove towards the nearest bar.